'The Cowboys' indicted for inmate abuse

Published: Saturday, November 04, 2000

DENVER {AP} Seven federal prison guards allegedly belonging to a renegade group called "The Cowboys" have been charged with kicking inmates, smashing their heads into walls and mixing human waste into their food.

Thursday's federal indictment said one handcuffed inmate was choked until his eyes bulged, and another man's head was slammed repeatedly into a wall.

Altogether, the indictment listed 52 acts of abuse against at least 20 inmates in 1995 to 1997 at the maximum-security prison at Florence, 95 miles south of Denver.

The indictment is part of a two-year investigation into The Cowboys, who authorities say patrolled the prison in a reign of terror. In all, 10 guards have been indicted and the investigation is continuing.

William Vance Turner, an inmate who helped persuade authorities to investigate, asked to be placed in a witness protection program.

"I'm scared to death every day I'm in here," Turner said in Friday's Denver Post. "It's like I'm in a lion's mouth."

The Cowboys first came to light in 1999, when a member testified that the group beat inmates for infractions as minor as kicking a door. Three guards pleaded guilty last year and agreed to cooperate with authorities.

David Armstrong, 36, the first to plead guilty, said at least 11 officers began assaulting troublesome inmates in 1995, entering cells and punching or kicking prisoners, some of whom were handcuffed.

In some cases, the guards injured themselves so they could claim the inmates had attacked them first, prosecutors said.

The guards are also accused of kicking prisoners in the back and testicles and dropping handcuffed prisoners.